There She Was
by delectabledaisy
Summary: Late birthday fic for Claire. "It's an unusally hot day in the middle of an English summer, almost six o'clock in the evening, and you're about to ask a question that could change your life forever..."


**For Claire - Happy (late) birthday, I hope this was worth the wait. :P**

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There She Was

Since you were young, you've always wished for this.

Always wished for the opportunity to fall helplessly in love with someone and have all your dreams fulfilled. You always assumed it'd be handed to you with little effort required and everything would be fine. Alas, you learnt from a young age that fairytales seldom come true. After a while, you gave up hope that you'd ever get your happy ending.

Until you met Nikki.

Many years ago you laid eyes on her for the first time, mere months ago you finally made her yours.

_"About bloody time."_ _Leo had grinned knowingly when you both told him you were finally together._

It's an unusally hot day in the middle of an English summer, almost six o'clock in the evening, and you're about to ask a question that could change your life forever...

A cool breeze picks up around the beer garden like invisible hands; they lift her hair and place it across her shoulder, leaving it to cascade down the left side of her back, the light curls settling effortlessly and creating an abstract pattern against the blue of her dress. The glass of wine in her hands is getting warmer by the second as it's held directly in front of the sun's gaze, yet she still lifts it to her lips every few minutes and takes a sip, the ever-growing spark in her eyes becoming more visible with every laugh she emits upon hearing another of your witty remarks about the single fathers by the children's play area giving her the eye.

You've noticed all this within the three minutes of silence between you, and you're becoming aware that any moment from now she's going to turn around and notice you've done nothing but examine her appearance for this whole time. You could spend a million years searching every atom of her being for a flaw, but your efforts would be futile. There she was, graciously making forever less terrifying.

Nikki faces you, and you snap your head round to face away from her so quickly it causes a shooting pain to travel across your neck. Ouch.

"What is it?" She asks, directing her gaze towards you.

"Nothing..." You reply, your sentence getting lost somewhere between your brain and your tongue as she looks at you with those eyes. The very eyes you looked into when you first told her you loved her.

"Harry, you've been uncharacteristically quiet for the past..." She begins, glancing down at her watch. "Christ, three minutes! There must be something wrong with you."

"I'm just... looking."

"Better not be at my cleavage again. I caught you stealing a quick glance when I bent over to put the drinks down..." She smiles; an unconvincing attempt at pretending to be angry.

"No, not this time." You laugh.

Damn it. Caught again.

The scorching summer sun, mixed with the nervousness bubbling in the pit of your stomach, makes you think twice about what you're here to do. What would she say? What if she declines and thinks you're being ridiculous? A miniscule part of your mind still thinks you're moving too fast, you've only been in a relationship for a little over three months, but when she shifts closer to you and pressed a soft kiss to your lips, your worries cease.

"Do you think we have a future together?" You mumble absent-mindedly, more to yourself than to Nikki.

"Do _you_ think we have a future together?" She asks, avoiding your question. Not a good sign.

"Answer my question, woman."

"I like to think we do. I _want_ a future with you. Why do you ask?" She replies again, seriously this time.

"Just... to see if we wanted the same thing." You take a long swig of your beer, searching for some dutch courage.

"We do, don't we?" She asks, with a slightly worried hint to her tone.

"Yes," You smile, reaching out to hold her hand. "We have done for a while now, haven't we?"

She smiles back, nods, and looks away. You're left completely perplexed; how the hell are you going to do this? Why did you ask her about your future? What the hell are you doing?

_"Just ask her. You've waited long enough to spend the rest of your lives together, I'm sure she wants this too," Leo had said a few days previously when you'd told him your plans. "When you're there and the moment's right, you'll know what to do."_

Leo's words of wisdom hadn't helped. At all.

You feel for the box in your pocket, as if gripping it will comfort you and send the right words floating to your brain and off the tip of your helplessly perplexed tongue.

"Nikki, will you-"

"Can we go shopping?" She interrupts, bringing your sentence to an abrupt halt.

"What? Not now. Nikki-"

"Because Janet mentioned something about having a party for her birthday-"

"Nikki..."

"And I'm going to need a new outfit or something if the weather's going to be like this, and I was thinking-"

"Nikki!" She's sitting right next to you, yet she still can't hear you when she's going on about shopping. Typical Nikki.

"What? Look, I know you hate clothes shopping, but I won't take long-"

"Marry me!"

The words fall from your mouth, louder than intended, before you have enough time to clamp your lips shut and keep them locked in. Hardly the big proposal you were planning; still firmly sat in your seat and not a premededitated action in sight. She stops, mid-sentence, at last.

Silence.

Torturous silence.

Time passes painfully slow now as your lips remain slightly parted, and as Nikki looks at you, you notice her mouth mirrors your own.

"W-what?" Her tone falters, before she resorts to silence once again.

You fiddle with the box in your pocket as if it's been viciously swallowed by the denim and you lose all strength in your fingers as you lift it to her view. Her eyes widen almost as much as the box as you flip the lid up, unveiling the engagement ring you'd spent ages searching for. (You refused to settle for anything less than perfect, but at the same time you didn't want it to be too over the top.)

"Marry me, Nicola." Her eyes travel from your face, to the ring, then back to your face again.

"But-"

"I know, I know, It's really soon. I'm sorry. But being your 'boyfriend' doesn't feel like enough anymore. I mean... of course, being with you is amazing and it's everything I've ever wanted, but... I guess we're sort of ready for the whole 'married' thing, you know? The whole big house, kids, dog, matching jumpers-"

"Harry, I-"

"But if you're not ready, I understand, that's fine. Well, it's not fine because I want this so badly, but-"

"Yes!"

"Yes?"

"Yes, of course I'll marry you, you eejit." She laughs now, salty tears brimming in her eyes and threatening to fall.

She pounces on you like an animal capturing its prey and pulls your head down to crash her lips against yours in a powerful kiss. You don't attempt to deepen it, you don't need to. You can almost feel her heart beating hard and fast against her ribcage if you press yourself against her enough, telling you everything you need to know.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to ask you that," You sigh, relieved, as you part. "I love you."

"I love you too." She giggles, wiping her eyes. A serious expression suddenly taints her porcelain face. "Though I draw the line at matching jumpers!"

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**Again, I'm SO sorry this is late! In my defence, I had no idea where this was going when I started it, it sort of just... fell into place, I guess. I don't think I've ever written a fic this cheesy in my life (well, I probably have) but I have no shame! ;-)**

**(The whole "**_**There she was, desperately making forever less terrifying." **_**is actually lyrics from a song by The Last Shadow Puppets, I'm nowhere near talented enough to think of something like that.)**

**Review? :-) xxx**


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